In the early 1900s, Barnegat Bay was laden with millions of oysters. Over time, the population dwindled due to over-harvesting, environmental changes and disease. Until fairly recently, the bay became a graveyard of what once was—it was where oysters went to die.
However, the last seven years have turned the page on this melancholic desolation. Thanks to a group of independent shellfish farmers and aquaculturists, the variety and abundance of oysters in Barnegat Bay has made a comeback. The Barnegat Oyster Collective is actively working to make New Jersey one of the hottest spots for oysters on the east coast once again.
What Is the Barnegat Oyster Collective?
The Barnegat Oyster Collective (BOC) handles marketing, logistics and distribution for 13 independent farms. BOC was started by Matt Gregg and Scott Lennox of Forty North Oyster Farms, who utilize a process known as intensive aquaculture to raise and maintain a sustainable oyster population in Barnegat Bay.
Intensive aquaculture is a restorative and efficient method of shellfish farming where the growth of a species is monitored under controlled conditions. This means that a farmer can raise seafood with the conditions necessary to produce healthy, disease-free fish and shellfish.
At BOC, this means spawning oysters on land in a controlled setting, then planting the baby oysters, called “oyster seeds,” in appropriate settings within the Barnegat Bay. This allows for shellfish farmers to manipulate characteristics including: shape, aesthetic, flavor and speed of growth. It also improves the likelihood that the oysters can grow free of disease—a crucial detail in maintaining an oyster population.
Since 1960, Rutgers University has been breeding oysters with these traits and characteristics in mind. Through cross-breeding and trait analysis, Rutgers has produced an oyster with over 60 years of disease-resistant lineage. The oysters produced have superior growth attributes and desirable quality of meat. Because of this, Rutgers has become crucial to the global aquaculture industry—with 30-50 percent of the Oyster production in the U.S. and France able to be traced back to the university.
This research and development produces an oyster that is genetically superior for Mid-Atlantic waters. They have strong resistance to disease, are high in yield and, ultimately, grow faster. This makes it the perfect candidate for BOC.
The Start
Scott Lennox and Matt Gregg met at the University of Rhode Island where Gregg in particular studied aquaculture. While studying at URI, Gregg was simultaneously working on an oyster farm where he fell in love with the process of shellfish farming and how environmentally crucial it was. Following his education, Gregg came back to Jersey to start Forty North Oyster Farms in Ocean County. Early on, Forty North was a one-man show—with harvesting, sales, deliveries and marketing done mostly by Gregg himself.
When Lennox came into the picture, the duo discussed ways in which they could educate others on oyster farming, restore the oyster population within the Garden State and, perhaps most importantly, uplift other oyster farmers with a living wage and growing business. Eventually, in 2016, the Barnegat Oyster Collective was born. The collective aimed to encourage food consciousness and to make New Jersey one of the great destinations for oysters anew.
Because oysters have a timetable once harvested, it is difficult for small farmers to reduce waste. However, with a collective, farmers can hone in on harvesting to order and leave the mystery of how much to harvest behind. Working directly with farmers and purveyors helps to cut down on the time between harvesting an oyster and it ending up shucked on your plate.
Delicious oysters were Gregg and Lennox’s goal, and the bonus from that is the simultaneous promotion of the health of New Jersey waters. Higher demand for oysters means more being spawned by farms—leading to better filtration and a healthier ecosystem altogether.
Why It’s Important
A substantial oyster population is about a lot more than just supplying happy hours with ample amounts of the bivalve. Oysters are crucial to preserving the environment in and around the bay because they filter the water simply by existing. An adult oyster can filter up to 50 gallons of water a day by removing excess algae within the bay—directly resulting in a healthier ecosystem.
With the native oyster disappearing, vegetation took a hit as well. Without oysters to filter the water, plants have a harder time growing and other species suffer as a result. “If you remove oysters from the system, well, the whole system collapses,” Gregg told me.
In New Jersey’s estuarine waters, this nightmare was becoming reality until the resurgence of oysters in the last half-decade. A specific plant known as submersed aquatic vegetation (SAV) eelgrass was collapsing before our eyes—a tragedy for a plethora of different species who rely on the SAV beds for a variety of reasons from shelter to food.
BOC still uses a native oyster, but their development is aided by the farmers. This help has led to oyster larvae populating every corner of the bay. As a result, we are now seeing oysters growing and thriving in areas that have been a wasteland for the species for the last half century.
Since beginning their work, BOC has revived SAV eelgrass and, thus, replenished the ecosystems within the Barnegat Bay that are so crucial to a benevolent environment for a multitude of species to grow and co-exist in.
Today
Today, Barnegat Bay remains one of the most prolific habitats for eelgrass on the planet. Improved abundance of SAV beds means that the system is more habitable. In turn, oyster production can increase.
This past January, BOC planted over ten million oysters. Thanks to intensive aquaculture and the use of good oyster lineage, BOC is able to keep up with demand. Each week, they provide 200 restaurants and several wholesalers with 80,000 oysters combined.
80,000 oysters a week is an impressive feat no matter the area, but to think that Barnegat Bay’s oyster supply was all but extinct less than a decade ago makes it an accomplishment that is simply unfathomable.
The Future for The Barnegat Oyster Collective
Simply put, The Barnegat Oyster Collective aims to continue growing more oysters each year. Shellfish aquaculture is both sustainable and restorative—with the downsides being virtually nonexistent.
In New Jersey, The Right to Farm Act protects terrestrial farms from public and private nuisance actions. For years, oyster and clam farms did not receive the same protections as terrestrial farms. This meant the farms were vulnerable, and economic viability was hard to achieve. However, this changed in March of 2023 when Governor Phil Murphy amended the Right to Farm Act with the signing of S-428.
Thanks to the work of Barnegat Oyster Collective, farmers and activists across the state are now given the benefit of the doubt when conducting agricultural practices. If a neighbor or municipality has a complaint, it can be thrown out so long as the farmer can prove they’re operating under best management practices. Because of Gregg’s activism, responsible shellfish farmers—managing waters crucial to our ecosystem—are here to stay.
You can continue to help the cause by eating more Barnegat oysters—which doesn’t sound like too bad of a deal to me. You can order oysters and find which NJ restaurants source from the Barnegat Oyster Collective here.
Peter Candia is the Food + Drink Editor at New Jersey Digest. A graduate of The Culinary Institute of America, Peter found a passion for writing midway through school and never looked back. He is a former line cook, server and bartender at top-rated restaurants in the tri-state area. In addition to food, Peter enjoys politics, music, sports and anything New Jersey.
